1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to overhead garage doors, and more particularly to a bottom fixture for overhead garage doors which can be installed on either side of the garage door.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Overhead garage doors are used as closures for large door openings in garages and warehouses. The conventional sectional overhead garage door is formed of a plurality of horizontally oriented rectangular sections hinged together along adjacent longitudinal edges. Roller brackets are mounted on the laterally opposed ends of the horizontal sections which have small wheels or rollers. The rollers of the roller brackets ride in laterally opposed tracks having a vertical portion mounted at each side of the door opening and curve at their top ends to form a horizontal portion which is mounted parallel to the ceiling of the enclosure. When the overhead garage door is opened it is raised vertically from a vertical position to a horizontal position inside the enclosure.
Bottom brackets are mounted at the bottom of the laterally opposed edges of the lowermost horizontal section of the door and have outwardly facing sheaves. Pulleys are mounted at the top of each side of the door opening. A cable attached at one end to a tension spring mounted on the horizontal portion of each track and extends horizontally passing over the pulley then vertically downward passing under the sheave of the bottom bracket and then vertically upward where it is secured to the track. When the door is opened the spring tension in the cables pulling upwardly on the bottom brackets assist in lifting the heavy door.
The conventional bottom bracket is L-shaped in transverse cross section forming a wide flat side and a narrow flat side at right angles to one another. When installed, the wide side fits on the horizontal side of the door and the narrow side fits on the side edge of the door facing the track. The wide side has a pair of parallel laterally spaced ears that extend perpendicular to the surface near the bottom end and have axially aligned apertures which receive the shaft of a roller. The narrow side has a sheave which extends perpendicular to the surface at the bottom end below the axis of the ears and parallel thereto.
The particular construction of the conventional bottom brackets presents a problem in that they can only be installed on the right hand side or the left hand side of the garage door. They cannot be interchanged because, if inverted, the sheave and roller would be at the top end of the bracket with the roller positioned a short distance below the sheave, approximately 5-6 inches above the bottom of the door. Because of the particular construction of conventional bottom brackets, persons in the garage door trade must carry an inventory of both right hand and left hand bottom brackets. Often, persons repairing a garage door will be unable to complete the repair when they find that they have a supply of right hand bottom brackets when they actually need a left hand bottom bracket, or vice versa. Thus, there is a longfelt need for a universal bottom bracket which is constructed so that it can be installed on either the left hand or right hand side of the garage door.
There are several patents which disclose hardware and fixtures of various construction for overhead garage doors.
Martin, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,027,494 and 4,934,439 disclose a method and apparatus for adjustably applying tension to a garage door which utilizes a specially shaped strut and bracket apparatus which imparts tension to a section of the door to compensate for misaligned sections which have been curved out of alignment.
Wheatland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,387 discloses an adapter for mechanically driven garage doors. The adapter is an elongate U-shaped channel in which a chain is received and has a sprocket on the channel which engages the chain.
Putz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,618 discloses a self-sealing device for overhead garage doors which comprises a bracket and a spring driven cam system that is attached to the door track at the roller shaft points when the door is in the closed position.
Sorenson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,043 discloses a pivoting screen panel for overhead garage doors which is secured to the bottom and selectively pivots downwardly to provide air circulation to a garage.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a bottom fixture for overhead garage doors which can be selectively installed on the lower portion of either the right hand or left hand side of the garage door. The bottom fixture is an L-shaped bracket having a wide flat side and a narrow flat side at right angles to one another. A first pair of parallel laterally spaced ear members and a second pair of parallel laterally spaced ear members extend perpendicular to the same surface of the wide side and each pair is spaced a predetermined distance from the top and bottom ends of the bracket and each pair of laterally spaced ears has axially aligned apertures on a horizontal axis to receive the shaft of a roller device having a roller rotatably mounted at its outer end. A first and second sheave extend perpendicular to the same surface of the narrow side on a horizontal axis and are spaced from the top and bottom ends a predetermined distance and are configured to receive a cable. The bracket member can be selectively inverted and secured on either the right hand side or left hand side of the overhead garage door with the shaft of the roller device selectively installed in either of the first or said second pair of ears with the roller disposed on the outer side edge of the overhead garage door and with the first and second sheaves disposed on the outer side edge of the overhead garage door and the cable slidably engaged with the lowermost sheave. The bracket may also be made with only a pair of sheaves or with only two pairs of ears.